Nic Panken finds a balance and searches for the divine on his first solo project.
Nic Panken is a member of the Brooklyn-based band Spirit Family Reunion. This is Panken’s debut solo album and is a departure from his previous work, but it does not disappoint. Ten original songs written mainly by Panken with help and support from multi-instrumentalist Jared Samuel. Panken met Samual while playing at a local Hudson Valley house show. Samual invited Panken to the recording studio he runs with partner, Sarah La Puerta, in Cambridge, NY, and the result is this fine record. Panken invited a host of excellent musicians to help him on the project, including fellow members of the Spirit Family Reunion, Stephen Weinheimer and Maggie Carson. That said, this is a Panken collection, and his original sparse arrangements are transformed into the mesmeric musical journey we have here.
A Jared Samuel prelude serves as an introduction. The record’s title derives from the line “Searching for a sign / That’s near divine or merely rhyme“. The search continues for ten tracks as Panken explores within, and although there is plenty of rhyme there, the depth delves at times as close to divine as showcased on the song Deep Time, in particular. Hold on, though, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves here, as there is much to admire before that pivotal song.
Into Eternity is simply beautiful, with an aching pedal steel playing, almost out of earshot, as Panken sings “Just admiring the caverns of my mind.” When you reach the bridge, the guitar takes over, raising the music steadily up. You can find yourself lost in the moment. It may bring to mind artists such as Jonathan Wilson or even John Lennon, but without losing its own identity.
The upbeat Dear Companion uses mainly Panken’s guitar. A distorted guitar solo kicks in, taking the song into indie rock territory. Another World slows things back down as the instrumentation plays from speaker to speaker. With a slow build-up, you are immersed in, as the title suggests, another world.
The first time you listen to Deep Time, you may dismiss it. It is over six minutes and has a slow burn, but tune into Panken’s voice and lyrics as he will take you with him. “Sing to me the language of the blind / Carry through the canyons of my mind / Where everything would linger on the vine / I never want to wake up from deep time” is a wonderful, magical line and a lingering fiddle kicks in, taking you deeper.
As you drift, you are shaken from your reverence by the jaunty Delightful Dust. Panken accepts that we are all made of dust and return to dust, but in between there is much to experience. “Now is it safe to say we just fade away? / Like a discontinued flavour / But even if you’re just some delightful dust / You bring essence that I savour“. Panken has found an almost perfect balance across the song selection. Lyrically accomplished, the record is certainly more than merely rhyme.
